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The Economic Impacts of the COVID‐19 Pandemic in Australia: A Closer Look at Gender Gaps in Employment, Earnings and Education

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  • Leonora Risse

Abstract

Three years into the COVID‐19 pandemic, this article considers the longer‐lasting economic impacts on the Australian workforce through a gender lens. Using Australian Bureau of Statistics data, it analyses changes in employment, earnings and educational participation relative to the pre‐pandemic trends that were predicted to have otherwise occurred. Despite women's employment moving back towards pre‐pandemic levels more rapidly than men's, the pandemic also saw a widening of the gender gap in earnings and a larger fall in women's educational participation. This paper highlights the need for ongoing monitoring of labour market indicators through a gender lens to inform more responsive policy design.

Suggested Citation

  • Leonora Risse, 2023. "The Economic Impacts of the COVID‐19 Pandemic in Australia: A Closer Look at Gender Gaps in Employment, Earnings and Education," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 56(1), pages 91-108, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ausecr:v:56:y:2023:i:1:p:91-108
    DOI: 10.1111/1467-8462.12502
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jeff Borland, 2020. "Scarring effects: A review of Australian and international literature," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 23(2), pages 173-187.
    2. Lundberg, Shelly, 1985. "The Added Worker Effect," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(1), pages 11-37, January.
    3. Xiaodong Gong, 2011. "The Added Worker Effect for Married Women in Australia," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 87(278), pages 414-426, September.
    4. Dan Andrews & Nathan Deutscher & Jonathan Hambur & David Hansell, 2020. "The career effects of labour market conditions at entry," OECD Productivity Working Papers 20, OECD Publishing.
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    Cited by:

    1. Bruna Campisano & Giuseppe Migali & Steve Bradley, 2024. "Spatial Variations in the Impact of Covid-19 on the Educational Gender Gap in English Secondary Schools," Working Papers 415678839, Lancaster University Management School, Economics Department.
    2. Eiji Yamamura & Fumio Ohtake, 2026. "Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Altered the Traditional View about Women's Active Work?," Papers 2603.09637, arXiv.org.

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